Ok so let me start off by saying I’m a total jersey nerd. I have to believe that one of the big reasons I got into hockey as a little two year old lad was the awesome, bright, crazy unis of the 1990’s. That love has followed me into adulthood, and I have built up a mighty fine collection over the years of some beautiful jerseys (and some pretty ugly ones too).

One of my biggest gripes with the current state of the game today is how many teams have absolutely shocking uniform designs and decisions. I would assume these franchises are paying for top-quality business consultation and design people, yet we continue to see insane decisions like the Flames and Capitals just made recently when Adidas took over, to ditch the beautiful retro looks they had, and go with plain, pipe-y, pyjama-looking trash, while 99.9% our jaws dropped at how such a decision could be made. Is there some ugly-jersey conspiracy that we’re all totally oblivious to?

But alas, we don’t have any say in which jerseys our teams will don. But it won’t stop us from dreaming! So I decided to do a series on the best jerseys that each franchise has worn. You may agree with some, you may think I’m crazy. Either way, let me know by tweeting me at @BLTJay!

As a Calgarian, I’ve always inherently been a Flames fan, so this is one that I’m pretty passionate about. And holy shit is this an easy one. The only decision was whether I prefer the actual 80’s retro or the modern RBK version, and I think that the newer version takes it. The red is a little sharper, and the slimmer cut is always a bonus.

God damn that’s a good look. One of the nicest in the NHL. And guess what? THEY FUCKING DITCHED IT LAST SEASON!!! WHAT!? HOW? WHY!?!?

It’s decisions like this that just make my brain explode. Like this is what you’re going to go with? Seriously? The double bibby stripe things under the arms? It looks like the jersey was too small so they had to make cuts under the arms, and ran out of red fabric and threw some black in there instead to fit over their huge guts. And then double pant stripes? You’ve got to be kidding me. And the flags on the shoulders? Who the fuck?

Seeing the Flames jersey released when Adidas took over for 2018 was one of the angriest I have been about hockey in my whole life. And really, the Flames have had some struggle since they ditched the retro look in the 80’s. Check it out:

So I think it’s pretty simple: bring back the retro, make a white road version, and ditch the terrible units you have now. Simple.